3D 3rd place 6
The Endless Sea
by Jacinta Perkins · submitted Nov 4, 2014 · 2014 contest
1 / 36
Description
This is my first Threadcakes entry. I wanted to challenge myself with a sculpted cake as they are new to me and I’ve wanted to do a bust cake for a while now. When I saw”Endless Sea” I loved it and knew it was going to challenge me... I loved the illustrative look of this design and the thought of doing painted pieces for the cake.
All the gumpaste pieces were made ahead of time (or started ahead of time and then made as I was making the cake). The fish were made of gumpaste, textured and then handpainted with fins, faces and tails added. I decided that I wanted to use wafer paper for both her hair and the tails of the fish as they could be cut really thin and would have that translucent water look. I coloured the wafer paper using petal dusts and gels and applying with a wide brush. Cutting the wafer paper took ages and I realised with her fringe that I had to cut it in a wave with scissors to get the fringe to fall in a curve.. this also applied to the fish tails. The shell was made from gumpaste and I actually used my edible pastels to draw the lines on... much like chalk. I then added extra colour and a few fine lines with coloured gels. The coral I made using a styrofoam flower former as my base, cut the shape I needed to follow from pink gumpaste and added scrolls and ruffles to the shape of the flower. I then dusted it using rose, pink and white petal dusts and finished it with metallic lustre. The shells were made from gumpaste and coloured using the pastels and gels. The big one was so delicate and I had to do a repair job on the front. The smaller shell acted as a support for the big shell and kept it in place which was fortunate. The top shell (fanlike) was made using gumpaste and I distorted small squares and marked them with a dresden tool to get details. It was then painted. The stick I made using florist wire and florist tape and was the only part of the cake that wasn’t edible (barring the dowel and skewers). At the suggestion of a friend I dipped it in royal icing to get some tree like texture and then airbrushed it navy (thank you so much Jacki Fanto!!).
The cake itself was from scratch vanilla cake (my partners favourite) with dark chocolate ganache. I baked 2 large square cakes and my partner made me a central dowel support (hence my buttering him up with cake). Its the first time I’ve ever used a central dowel in my cakes as I’ve never attempted a stuctured cake before. I leveled and stacked the cake and put in 5 dowels and a cardboard board where the top of her chin fell. I then built the rest of the cake around the dowel. I carved the cake to shape using the design as reference for the front and a pic I found online for the profile. I think this was my first rookie mistake as the profile reference was very angled at the neck and I ended up having to carve a lot from the back and add to her bust to make the carved cake more in proportion. I ganached the cake and smoothed using an acetate smoother. At this stage I started adding her features using modelling chocolate... again a first for me and it took me quite a while before I was happy with her features. I covered her face with white fondant mixed with a small amount of modelling chocolate so I could roll it really thin as I was worried about losing her facial details by adding fondant. I was surprised at how well and easy it was to find her features and bring them out in the fondant... I used colour shapers to bring out the detail and a dresden tool to add creases to her mouth. I added an oval for her eye shape and then built eyelids in white fondant. I handpainted her details using coloured gels and for her collar part I used a sponge to get an illustrative effect.
One of the most stressful parts was attaching all the fish. The smaller pink fish has a skewer which I have tried to hide using the painted splotch and the fish at the forefront was also on a skewer, hidden by his fins. My partner was cursing me as he had to drill into the board and I hadn’t allowed much room in between the cake and where the drill holes needed to be. The wafer hair I stuck on with a bit of water although it misbehaved a bit when I was taking photos (had placement all right and then the wind would hit). This cake was a HUGE learning curve for me and I’m really glad that I completed a piece for Threadcakes.
The kids enjoyed the cake... although they have been eating cake offcuts all week. The cake was 37cm in height (left that part out ) :)
All the gumpaste pieces were made ahead of time (or started ahead of time and then made as I was making the cake). The fish were made of gumpaste, textured and then handpainted with fins, faces and tails added. I decided that I wanted to use wafer paper for both her hair and the tails of the fish as they could be cut really thin and would have that translucent water look. I coloured the wafer paper using petal dusts and gels and applying with a wide brush. Cutting the wafer paper took ages and I realised with her fringe that I had to cut it in a wave with scissors to get the fringe to fall in a curve.. this also applied to the fish tails. The shell was made from gumpaste and I actually used my edible pastels to draw the lines on... much like chalk. I then added extra colour and a few fine lines with coloured gels. The coral I made using a styrofoam flower former as my base, cut the shape I needed to follow from pink gumpaste and added scrolls and ruffles to the shape of the flower. I then dusted it using rose, pink and white petal dusts and finished it with metallic lustre. The shells were made from gumpaste and coloured using the pastels and gels. The big one was so delicate and I had to do a repair job on the front. The smaller shell acted as a support for the big shell and kept it in place which was fortunate. The top shell (fanlike) was made using gumpaste and I distorted small squares and marked them with a dresden tool to get details. It was then painted. The stick I made using florist wire and florist tape and was the only part of the cake that wasn’t edible (barring the dowel and skewers). At the suggestion of a friend I dipped it in royal icing to get some tree like texture and then airbrushed it navy (thank you so much Jacki Fanto!!).
The cake itself was from scratch vanilla cake (my partners favourite) with dark chocolate ganache. I baked 2 large square cakes and my partner made me a central dowel support (hence my buttering him up with cake). Its the first time I’ve ever used a central dowel in my cakes as I’ve never attempted a stuctured cake before. I leveled and stacked the cake and put in 5 dowels and a cardboard board where the top of her chin fell. I then built the rest of the cake around the dowel. I carved the cake to shape using the design as reference for the front and a pic I found online for the profile. I think this was my first rookie mistake as the profile reference was very angled at the neck and I ended up having to carve a lot from the back and add to her bust to make the carved cake more in proportion. I ganached the cake and smoothed using an acetate smoother. At this stage I started adding her features using modelling chocolate... again a first for me and it took me quite a while before I was happy with her features. I covered her face with white fondant mixed with a small amount of modelling chocolate so I could roll it really thin as I was worried about losing her facial details by adding fondant. I was surprised at how well and easy it was to find her features and bring them out in the fondant... I used colour shapers to bring out the detail and a dresden tool to add creases to her mouth. I added an oval for her eye shape and then built eyelids in white fondant. I handpainted her details using coloured gels and for her collar part I used a sponge to get an illustrative effect.
One of the most stressful parts was attaching all the fish. The smaller pink fish has a skewer which I have tried to hide using the painted splotch and the fish at the forefront was also on a skewer, hidden by his fins. My partner was cursing me as he had to drill into the board and I hadn’t allowed much room in between the cake and where the drill holes needed to be. The wafer hair I stuck on with a bit of water although it misbehaved a bit when I was taking photos (had placement all right and then the wind would hit). This cake was a HUGE learning curve for me and I’m really glad that I completed a piece for Threadcakes.
The kids enjoyed the cake... although they have been eating cake offcuts all week. The cake was 37cm in height (left that part out ) :)